Phantom Pain
by Madin312
Summary: Two years after Kuvira's invasion, Republic City has been mostly rebuilt and Mako's career was taking its rise. But something sinister is happening in Republic City. As people kept disappearing, Mako and his new partner soon got tangled in the middle of it. KorraxAsami and other pairings. One sided MakoxKorra. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1 : Prologue

**Phantom Pain**

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><p>"Why are you doing this, Mako!?" yelled Korra to Mako. They were facing each other on the ruined Pro-bending Arena. Sunlight crept inside from the hole on the ceiling, lighting the Avatar and the firebender in front of her with its rays. The seats were vacant. The entire building was empty. The only people there were the two of them, and the dead body of President Zan that was lying right in front of Mako. The President's eyes were wide open and smoke rose from the burns on his chest. His expensive suit was dirty and scorched.<p>

Mako, the former Detective of Republic City, stood silently before the body. His right eye held the same amber color from all those years ago. But his left eye held the color of dead, silky white. Stiches crossed the damaged eye and for the better part of Korra's judgement, it was probably blind. His brown coat was tattered and burned in a few places. He was wearing a white shirt underneath. A light red scarf covered his neck, but it was clearly different than the one he used to wear years ago. It was so light that it almost seemed pink. He stared at Korra for a while before addressing her.

"You haven't changed much…" said Mako. Korra bristled in frustration even more.

"Don't dodge the question! Why are you doing this!?" Korra held up her hands in a combat ready position, her fists clenched, just in case Mako tried to do anything. And seeing the damage he had done, he could do anything by now. Mako didn't answer her. He held up his left hand and Korra tightened her pose, ready for an attack. Silently, the scarred firebender took off the black glove that covered his left hand. Korra was expecting to see the familiar pink skin of the scar he received during Kuvira's invasion, but was surprised to see a prosthetic left hand.

"Don't bother on trying to bend it," said Mako. "It's platinum." Korra eyed the artificial limb with great curiosity. Mako saw the way her eyes kept glued to his left hand and he threw the discarded glove carelessly to the side.

"What happened to you, Mako?" Korra's voice softened, losing its anger and replaced with sadness. She saw Mako stepped over the President's dead body, aiming to close the distance between them. "Don't move!" said Korra as her posture went rigid once more. Mako stopped in his tracks.

He rubbed his prosthetic left hand and looked at her right in the eye. "This is just one of the many things I've lost almost a year ago," said Mako. "And that man was responsible for all of them," said Mako as he gestured to the body behind him.

"The people I've lost. The family I've lost. I think of them every night and my body… it won't stop hurting…" said Mako, gesturing to his left hand. "I don't expect you to understand."

"So you exacted revenge? What good have that done!? The city is in panic and Republic City will be in shambles without proper leadership!" yelled Korra. Her fists clenched in front of her.

"True," said Mako. "But the life of a single man is hardly relevant to the fate of the world." Now Korra's face was scrunched in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" asked Korra. She was sweating now, whether it was because of the heat of the ruined stadium or because of her nervousness, she did not know. And she could not afford to have her mind linger on such things.

"A big change will come to the world, Korra. And his death has delayed that change. At least until I find a more permanent solution."

"What change? You're not making sense, Mako!" yelled Korra angrily. She raised her fist higher so that it was the same level as her eyes. She was prepared for any sudden movements. Her legs poised in anticipation and she glared at Mako. She was intending to take him down and get some things out of him. Personal feelings could not get in the way, even if he was her friend.

Then suddenly, the arena shook violently, the floor cracking on various places. Korra's posture broke, and it was all the time Mako needed to act. Mako immediately ran forward and planted a fist onto Korra's stomach. It was charged with a little lighting. It was a weak charge, especially compared to his usual lightning attacks. But he wasn't aiming to kill, just to incapacitate. Korra fell to her knees as Mako's fist zapped her with electricity. Her vision was fading as she fell to the concrete floor of the arena.

"You sure about leaving her like that, Mako?" Her hearing was quickly fading, but she caught the sound of another man, speaking to Mako.

"Yes. We need her. When the time comes, she'll have no choice but to help us."

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><p><strong>Okay! This is the start of a new story I've been working on! For those not getting it, this was set after the end of the series, and I am aiming to do something different. It will have Korrasami, don't worry about it. I've accepted the fact that that ship has reached the finish line. But some Korra and Mako moments are to be expected. Mostly friendship stuffs… *cough* *cough*…<strong>

**Be prepared for a lot of OCs to appear, so those that dislike OCs, the way out is open for you, but for those that doesn't mind, get in for a ride.**


	2. Chapter 2 : Surprise

**Phantom Pain**

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><p><strong>2 Years Ago, and 2 years after Kuriva's Invasion<strong>

The sun crept through the apartment's window. Groaning, Mako sat up on his bed and stretched his aching body. Work had not been merciful on him these past two years. Republic City has been rebuilding itself in the past years and they were doing a damn good job if you asked him. But the amount of looters and criminals who had taken the chaos and disorder as an opportunity had been staggering. And with the miniscule amount of the Police Forces not left injured or dead, containing the looters had been near impossible. The Chief had been working her back off trying to find officers that could still work.

Mako stood up from his bed and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 5.30 in the morning. Mako cracked his neck and proceeded to do his usual morning exercises. Push-ups, sit-ups, and even some breathing exercises. After that was done, he took a quick shower and took out his detective uniform from his closet. Eyeing the old cloth for a moment, he tucked his arms inside of it and buttoned the uniform. He straightened his shirt and put on a pair of black pants from the closet. He eyed himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess. He contemplated whether he should brush it as usual or just leave it as it was. Deciding on the latter, he flattened his bed hair with a few brush from his hands. He looked presentable, somewhat. That's good enough for him. He really wasn't feeling to dress himself too much today. He looked at the clock. It was pointing at five minutes past six. He then put on his leather shoes.

Mako walked out of the small apartment he lived in and proceeded down the stairs. The old landlady waved at him from the front of her room. She was petting a stray cat. "Going to work, Mako?" asked the lady.

"Yeah. Wish me luck on work, ma'am," replied Mako. The old lady smiled and waved at him once more before Mako exited out of the door. Mako was greeted with the morning sun and he covered his eyes for a few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight. After a second, Mako walked down the street. The streets were still quite empty. Not a lot of people wakes up this early, but he could already see some early risers down the street who were probably going to work just like him.

With the center of Republic City transformed into a spirit portal, the people had no choice but to move out and rebuild the city a few distance away. Some buildings were left untouched, especially the western part. But those in the center and eastern part of the city weren't so fortunate. Miraculously, the base of Republic City Police had been left mostly untouched, save for a few rubbles from the quakes. Earthbenders from Zaofu and various part of the continent had helped with the rebuilding. Waterbenders from the North and Southern pole helped with the food and supplies for the refugees. The Fire Nation and United Republic Forces helped defend the city's borders just in case.

And what about Mako? Well, he and the other officers were left to deal with the looters. Two years ago, they were everywhere. But now, Mako could say that most of them had been taken care of. Now two years later, the city was mostly safe and rebuilt. Only a few buildings still needed work, and it would be taken care of quickly by the earthbender and metalbenders. The parts surrounding the spirit portal was left mostly untouched. Orders from the Avatar.

A week after the wedding, both Asami and Korra left for the spirit world together for some needed vacation. He was a little hurt that they had not told him or Bolin about it before their departure. But he figured that Korra of all people, needed some vacation.

A month later, they returned. And Mako could feel something different about the way they acted around each other. He brushed it off as some close friendship. But during a get together a few months later, they broke out the news that they were together. His ex-girlfriends were now together and it's like they were teaming up against him. But he knew that wasn't the case. Korra had moved on. She had chosen a new partner for her life. He should move on as well, but he couldn't. For now, he was happy- no. He was _content_ that Korra was now happy.

He brushed the thought off his mind and took sight of the Republic City Police Department. The renovated building stood majestically over the courtyard. Some spirit vines wrapped around its pillars, but they were not disturbing anyone, so it was let be. And backlashes from the vines for trying to cut them really weren't worth it.

Mako stepped up the stairs into the building and opened the door. It was still quite early in the morning, so there were not a lot of people in the building. Chief Beifong was probably answering phone calls in her office, blistering in frustration like heated coal. He felt a little sorry for her. Some of the officers greeted him a good morning. One of them, Shan, a middle aged officer stood up from his desk and approached Mako.

"Mako. The Chief called you to her office a few minutes ago."

"Me?" asked Mako. "What does she needs me for?" The Chief never called him unless it was really important.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "But I figured it must be important." He walked back to his desk. Mako decided to go to his desk first before meeting the chief. He opened the drawers under his desk and pulled out a pair of black gloves. He pulled a glove over his right hand before pulling the other one over his scarred left hand. He straightened the gloves and walked to the direction of the Chief's office. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in," said Lin. Mako opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Lin putting the phone back on its holder. Her eyes had small bags under them. She sighed tiredly before looking up at Mako.

"You look like hell, Chief."

Lin scoffed, "Tell me something I don't know, kid." Mako moved to sit down in front of the desk. Lin had moved the phone to the side and folded her hands under her chin.

"So… what do you need me here for? Shan said that you called me here," asked Mako.

"I called you here because the Police Department is going to get some new people," answered Lin.

"That's great, isn't it?" exclaimed Mako. "That's what we really need. We're still quite understaffed as it is."

"Don't get so happy yet, kid," said Lin, interrupting Mako. "One of them doesn't exactly have his records clean."

"So you want me to monitor him? I'm fine with that," said Mako. "But what's so special about him? I mean, my records aren't exactly clean either."

Lin sighed. She wasn't going to prolong this any longer. "Well, kid. Let me break it out to you. He was an Equalist."

Mako choked on his spit.

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><p><strong> That's the second chapter. Still pretty short, but it's still in the beginning of the story. It'll get longer, I promise. Our little former Equalist is going to appear in the next chapter, so stay tuned.<strong>

** Don't forget to follow, favorite, and write a review so that I can improve.**


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